Category Archives: social media

Today’s Department of State invests in new technology and employees are encouraged to use 21st century tools — twitter, social media, wikis, blogs, photo sharing sites — to promote democracy and support the development of civil society.

This wasn’t always the case, writes Amrita S. Khalid in Next Gov about the transition.

“The State Department for many years took pride in its lack of technological advancement. On easing the State Department into a technological transition, career diplomat Richard Boly first asked, “Here’s a group that is historically risk averse by design, and we’re asking them to make a change that is diametrically opposed to what they’ve grown throughout their career doing. How do we go about that?”

The Interpreter Fergus Hanson’s blog from the Lowy Institute for International Policy, cites the great leap upward forEmbassy Jakarta’s Facebook fans. The Interpreter’s banner photo is worth the price of admission.

President Obama’s visit to Indonesia in February 2010 was a pivotal event for the increase from 50,000 to nearly 310,000. Hanson proposes that State Department financial support played a role in outreach that drove new fans to the Embassy’s site. But it’s not clear that extra public outreach funding was forthcoming at that time, or since.

The viral nature of social media pushes audience growth exponentially. If the content grabs, Facebook connections ensue. Maybe Embassy Jakarta’s Facebook site is the place to be for Indonesian social medians. If you want to reach people you speak their language and the Embassy’s Facebook site displays Bahasa Indonesian. Would be interesting to see the metrics on where those 309,878 fans live and vote.

Some may be aware of the pro democracy street activism now occuring in Tunisia. I saw a news report last night on French TV in Washington. This blog reports government oppression, citizen censorship and street violence. Social media tools give citizens a voice. Are there any colleagues in Tunisia who can comment on this ongoing movement?

Since early January, Embassy Tunis’s Facebook page has become one of the frontlines of freedom of speech in a country that is in the process of a democratic transition. Many Tunisians are now using it as their primary source of up-to-the-minute information about current events and popular sentiment.

Creating a searchable directory of contact information for the employees of government agencies isn’t a new concept. Not so long ago, agency telephone directories were the tool of choice for finding colleagues.

Now, social networking sites facilitate internal or cross-agency searches for colleagues with expertise in particular subjects.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires staff to register professional data on entry, as part of new employee check-in procedures. The idea is to have access to the skillsets and knowledge of all employees. Without a database of skills — which may go far beyond one’s job title, pay grade or academic degrees — how can scientists find the best person for feedback, comment, brainstorming or information? The professional networking database is behind NRC’s firewall, but they do keep an open door for public participation.

The blog-stirs are drumming interest in the U.S. State Department’s proposed social networking platform with a draft title “Statebook”.

Professional networking sites benefit constituencies and customers, as well as employee groups. The Scottish local government uses professional networks to enable communication with its customers and among public service sectors. Science Daily reports on the educational benefits of social and professional networking sites.

Estonia knows about the value of online communication. The cyberwar of April 2007 disrupted government, media and banking during days of distributed denial of service attacks. Estonia is preparing for the next cyber meltdown.

Chile’s President and Cabinet use Twitter and blogs for direct interaction with citizens. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India may have a blog somewhere, but I didn’t find it. Meanwhile, here is a November 23, 2009 interview with Prime Minister Singh presented by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Myth: Anybody with a real job is too old and too busy for social networking.

Reality: Average age of a participant in the social media universe is 37 according to Pingdom. A third of all social network site users are over age 45. Pew Internet & American Life Project Nine Tribes of the Internet explains the personality and behavioural features of new media adapters.

The United States is still debating the creation of a U.S. Public Service Academy . Many prospective American diplomats study their trade at private schools — Georgetown, George Washington, Tufts and other universities. Yet any U.S. citizen can apply for the Foreign Service Exam, a step in the application process for career positions with the U.S. Department of State. U.S. diplomats receive specific training at the Foreign Affairs Training Center .

Affaires étrangères et Commerce international Canada (Foriegn Affairs and International Trade Canada) presents their Foreign Service Exam with a practice test. Find out whether you have the proficiency to represent Canada to the world.

German diplomats embrace diplomacy by networking. Germany’s Federal Foreign Office sponsors international training programs for diplomats with networking opportunities for seminar alumni. “German foreign policy is peace policy” is a vision statement we can all learn from.